Archive

BRING ME BACK ALIVE performance at the Axis Theatre Ballymun

Karolyn Ward - Monday, October 01, 2018

On Saturday night (29th September), the highly acclaimed and award nominated play highlighting the issue of suicide awareness, BRING ME BACK ALIVE, was performed at the Axis Theatre in Ballymun to a full house.

The play, written by Patricia McCann, addresses the impact of suicide in our communities and families, set in a modern day youth centre in Dublin.

Siobhan Byrne, Peer Mental Health Support Volunteer with HAIL said; “each death by suicide is one too many. We need to address the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide and bring it out into the open. We need to talk about it; to our friends, our families and especially our young people. As a survivor of attempted suicide, I can firmly vouch for Patricia McCann’s play as a lifesaver and proof that that there is help out there, that there is always hope and there is always an alternative.”

The play highlights the warning signs to look for in a person contemplating suicide, the need for more mental health services and the devastating effects that suicide has on family and friends. One of the main themes of “Bring Me Back Alive” is hope; to show that there is hope, there is an alternative. The play is written in as light hearted way as possible in order to give hope to those who need it the most.

Play-write Patricia McCann wants to continue to promote the powerful message from her play; “I am passionate about this play. When I wrote it, I had an idea it was something special, but seeing the emotional and positive responses from audiences across various communities has really blown me away. We hope this play will continue to open up conversations about mental health, suicide and bereavement through suicide, across the community.”

Edward McManus, of Edward McManus pharmacies who kindly sponsored the play, had this to say on the night; “It was an amazing, moving performance which brought home the unique power of the theatre to effect profound social change. The acting was superb and this message of hope cannot be distributed enough”.

The play was brought to the Axis by HAIL (Housing Association for Integrated Living), who own and manage over 70 homes in the Ballymun area and over 320 homes across Dublin and surrounding counties. HAIL provides a range of support services to people with mental health difficulties and work closely with the local community mental health team in the area.